Amnesia
by meandmyselflovei
Summary: Kurt is attacked and gets amnesia. Post-Journey. M for rape, cursing, and whatever else I decide to put in.
1. Attacked

**1. Attacked**

He opened his eyes. His vision was blurry.

"Hello, dear." A woman was standing over him with a kind smile on her face. He didn't recognize her.

"Unh, wha…?" He tried to sit up, but she gently held his shoulder down, telling him he needed to rest. He felt utterly exhausted. It was then that he realized he was in a hospital bed, and she was a nurse.

"Where am I?" He managed to ask.

"You're in Lima Central Hospital, honey. How are you feeling?" He ignored the question.

"What happened?" She sighed and looked down.

"Honey, you were attacked. If you could tell me your name so we can contact your parents…" He was confused, and his head hurt, and he still didn't understand what was happening.

"But… what do you mean I was attacked?" She looked at him with pity in her eyes.

"I'll explain the extent of your injuries later, but right now I need you to tell me your name." He sat there for a minute, and realized that he had no idea what his name was. So he just looked her in the eye and said, "I don't know."

She pursed her lips and said, "I was afraid of that. I'll call your doctor." She got up to leave, but the boy shouted 'wait!'.

She turned around and said, "I'll be right back, sweetie."

"Okay." And she left the room.

The boy sat there, trying to remember… anything. His name, mostly, but he also tried to remember his parents' names. Or his friends' names. Or anyone's name.

He couldn't.

He suddenly burst out into tears. He was in a hospital, and he had no idea why, except that he was 'attacked.'

Attacked…

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

_I hear murmuring over me, but I can't open my eyes. There seems to be two voices… A man and a woman. After a little bit, I can make out what they're saying. The woman says, "…attacked. Beaten." She gulps. "It's appears that he was raped, doctor." The man sighs, "Run a rape kit." "Doctor?" "Yes, Melinda?" "He sustained severe blows to the head." I hear another sigh, again coming from the man, "Perform an M.R.I." "Yes, doctor." The voices fade away…_

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The boy's mind returned to the present, and tears sprang to his eyes. _"Beaten." "Raped." "Severe blows to the head." _He didn't remember any of it.

He cried silently for a few minutes, then he heard voices coming from behind the door. They were the same voices that he had suddenly remembered.

"…physical state appears to be stable. But he seems to have amnesia, doctor."

"That isn't surprising. He scans don't show any permanent brain trauma, though. He should heal over time. Have you told him what happened?"

"No, doctor."

"Alright, I will then."

"Yes, doctor."

The boy quickly wiped his eyes.

The door to his room opened, and a man in a white coat entered. He flashed the boy a kind smile and sat down next to him.

"How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts."

"Don't worry, that will go away soon, and we've got pain killers in the mean time." This made the boy laugh for a second, but then his face fell.

"Was I raped?" He asked. The doctor suddenly looked concerned.

"What makes you ask that?"

"Well…" The boy hesitated. "I remember…" The doctor had a strange mixture of hope and pain on his face.

"What do you remember?"

"I remember you, and… Melinda. The nurse. Talking. She said that I was beaten…" His voice wavered, "And… and she said I was raped."

The boy's voice broke on the word raped, and he burst into tears.

The doctor took his hand and squeezed it. "I'm so sorry."

The boy pulled himself together long enough to say, "And I also heard you talking in the hall just now. You said I have amnesia?"

"Yes, but it's only temporary. Gradually, you will begin to remember things. It's a great sign that you've already began to remember some things."

The boy sniffled, and the doctor handed him a Kleenex. "Thanks." The boy muttered, and blew his nose.

"So," The boy began, "What, exactly, happened?"

"Well, we can't know what exactly happened, but we do know what injuries you've sustained. I appears that you were assaulted by at least three men. You were beaten, like you said. Cut with what appears to be a steak knife. And raped." The boy looked down when he said this. "We collected three different DNA samples, so once you've recovered and can give us more insight into what happened, it shouldn't be hard to convict your attackers."

By this point, tears were streaming down the small boy's face. The doctor looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Now, with your permission, we can release your photo to the press so that we can identify your family members. We won't mention the details of the attack, just that a boy around the age of fifteen was found with no ID, and is suffering from temporary amnesia. Would that be okay?"

"Um, sure." He said. "Is there anything else?" The boy asked in a small voice.

"Well," the doctor shifted in his seat. "Now that you mention it, it seems you were branded."

"_Branded?_"

"Um, yes. Your attackers burned a word onto your buttocks." The boy was horrified.

"What word?"

The doctor coughed, and hesitated.

"Faggot."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**A/N: Hope you liked it. As you can tell, it deals with some very sensitive themes, and the story will become more graphic as it proceeds. Just thought you ought to know.**

**Now, I want reviews. I already have the next chapter written, but I won't post in until I either get three reviews or a week goes by. They don't have to be positive reviews, but I would like honest feedback. Thanks.**


	2. Missing

**2. Missing**

"Mercedes, we _must to _go shopping for the perfect Summer wardrobes! I just went through my storage of Summer clothes, thinking that there would be something I could wear until I got the chance to shop, but nothing! It's all out of date!"

"Alright, alright, already. I'll go shopping with you Kurt. How's tomorrow?"

"Perfect. My dad left to go camping with Finn and Carole, I refused to go, especially after last time. They'll be gone till Wednesday. My dad never lets me miss school for a sale… Anyway, my point is no one will rag on me for being gone all day. We meet at the mall at 10:00 sharp. We need to have maximum shopping time. I just hope I can scrounge together something to wear…" Mercedes laughed at her drama-queen of a bestie. Sometimes he was just too much.

"Wait," she said, "Is the mall open that early on a Sunday?"

"Mercedes, you can trust me to know the mall's hours." She laughed.

"Sorry I doubted you. I'll see you then, I have to go to dinner. Love ya!"

"Right back at 'cha, girl." Mercedes hung up the phone and headed down to dinner.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Mercedes waited at the food courts the next day, her and Kurt's usual meeting place. She was starting to get pissed. It was 10:12. Kurt was never this late. She dialed his cell for the second time, and once again, no answer. She swore to god she would kick his little white ass when he got there.

At 10:25, she was starting to get worried. Where was he? She had dialed his cell again, and his home phone, both without answer.

At 10:30, she decided to check if he was in his favorite designer shop, in vain hope that for some reason he decided to start without her.

10:47. She was back at the food courts, and in total freak-out mode. _Maybe he forgot. Or slept in?_ But she knew there was little chance of that. Kurt lived to shop. She decided that she would head to his house at 11:00.

11:00 and Mercedes was heading to her car.

At 11:17 she got to his house. His car wasn't in the drive-way. She figured she might as well knock, no harm it that. She did, and there was no answer. She knew where he hid the extra key, so she got it out and opened the door.

"Kurt? You here?"

No answer.

"Kurt?"

Nada.

"Kurt!"

Zilch.

"KURT!"

Silence.

She went back to her car and started to drive home. She was starting to get really worried. Out of desperation, she called Finn. (She would have called Kurt's dad, but she didn't have his cell-phone number.)

"Hello?" Well, at least _he_ was answering his phone.

"Hey Finn, it's Mercedes."

"Oh, hey."

"Um, okay, so this might sound weird, but do you know where Kurt is?"

There was silence for a few seconds, then Finn said, "Uh, at home?"

"No. He's not home, I just checked. We were supposed to go shopping today, but he blew me off, so I came to his house to look for him, and… yeah. Not here. And his car's not here, either."

"Weird."

"Uh, yeah! Can I talk to his dad?"

"Hold on."

There was silence, with a few rustling sounds, 'Burt!' faintly called out, then coming from a deeper voice than before, "Hello?"

"Mr. Hummel?"

"Who is this?"

"It's Mercedes Jones. One of Kurt's friends.

"Yeah, I remember you. What's going on? Hey, did something happen to Kurt?"

"No, no Mr. Hummel. At least, not that I know of. That's kind of what I'm calling you about. Me and Kurt were supposed to go shopping this morning, but he didn't show up. And I went to your house to see if he was there, and he wasn't, and neither was his car. He's not answering his cell." Burt paused for a minute.

"Well, maybe he forgot about the plan."

"I don't think so, we talked about it last night. He wouldn't forget."

"Huh. Well… I don't know. I haven't talked to him since yesterday morning."

"Oh, well. I'm probably overreacting."

"Yeah. Hey, if you could call me when you figure out where he is. You've got me worried now."

"Alright, Mr. Hummel. Thanks."

She hung up, and decided not to worry about it. He was fine.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The next day at school, Mercedes was in first period English, and seriously worried. She and Kurt had this class together, and he wasn't there. She'd gone to school early that day so she could maybe talk to Kurt before class started, but his car wasn't in the parking lot.

_Don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out… Even though Kurt __**never misses class! **__Oh, god. Oh, sweet Jesus. Lord in heaven, let him walk through that door._

He didn't.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

All through the day, Mercedes asked around the whole school to see if anyone knew where he was. Nobody did, and only the former Glee club members seemed to care. (The show choir season was over, hence the 'former'. It was actually the last week of school, and Mercedes would have been more excited if she knew where the hell her best friend was.)

Mercedes walked slowly to her car after school let out, dejected. She still had no idea where he could be.

She drove to the grocery store to get ingredients for dinner, and when she pulled into the lot, THERE WAS HIS CAR!

"Oh my god!" Mercedes screamed to herself, "Finally!"

She pulled into the spot next to his, and looked in his window. He wasn't there, so she wrote a note telling him to call her and put it on his window in case she didn't run into him in the store.

She shopped with a relieved smile on her face, checking the aisles as she went. She didn't see him anywhere, but she didn't worry.

When she got back to her car, his was still there. She considered waiting for him, but her parents expected her to be home soon. He would call.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Mercedes woke up the next morning confused. Kurt hadn't called yesterday.

_Maybe he's mad at me. That would make sense, except for the fact that he was perfectly fine on the phone to me the other day. How could something have happened between then and the next morning to make him so mad?_

She went downstairs for Breakfast, poured herself a bowl of cereal, and sat next to her dad. Her was reading the sports section of the Lima Daily. She picked up the top news, read for a couple minutes, then practically choked on her food.

There was an article about a teen boy who had been found unconscious in an alley near the Lima grocers. He had woken up yesterday with amnesia. He appeared to be about fifteen years old. There was a picture, and it said that if anyone thought they knew the boy, then come to Lima Central Hospital.

When Mercedes finished coughing, she started to cry.

"Honey, what is it?" Her mom asked worriedly.

"Kurt."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**A/N: Wow. Four reviews in the first day. I'm going to have to up the number if I want to keep up. So, now it's ten reviews or after a week. If you reviewed the last chapter, a new review will still count for this one, but two reviews from the same person won't count on the same chapter. (If that makes any sense…) WARNING: The next chapter is GRAPHIC. Proceed with caution.**


	3. Ignoring

**3. Ignoring**

"_Hey, fag!" I turned around. There was a large man standing at a car on the other side of the parking lot. I was putting groceries in my trunk. It was dark. _

_I ignored the man._

"_I'm talkin' to you!" The man wobbled. He was drunk. I noticed he had two friends with him. Fear swelled in my chest. I tried not to let it show on my face._

_I continued to ignore him._

"_Dude, he looks sweet." This was coning from a different man, equally as big, equally as drunk._

_I ignored him too._

_All three of the men started walking towards me. I was terrified. I tried to get to my door. I was frozen. _

_I ignored the fear._

_The men had reached me. Two of them walked behind me. I was surrounded. "Come with us, Faggot." said one of the men behind me._

_I ignored him._

"_Have it your way, then." This was the man that spoke first. The one in front of me grabbed my wrists. One of the men in back grabbed my legs. The other threw a bag over my head._

_I ignored the fact that I was afraid of the dark._

_I was in the air, supported only by the men's arms. I screamed. The bottom of the bag tightened around my neck. I couldn't breathe. _

_I ignored the knowledge that something really bad was about to happen to me._

_I hit the ground. My back began to hurt. The bag came off my head. My throat hurt too much to scream again. One of the men pulled out a gun. "Do what we say, or die." I nodded. "Don't make a sound." I nodded. "Stand up." I stood up. "Take your pants off."_

_I ignored that._

"_NOW!" I took them off. "And the underwear." I did. The man smiled. "Good." He took off his pants._

_I ignored his erection._

"_Now, on your knees." I got on my knees. The man with no pants stood in front of me. His penis was right next to my mouth. "Suck." "No." He slapped me._

_I ignored the pain._

_I took the tip into my mouth. The man that it belonged to grabbed the back of my head. He pushed my head forward so his whole penis was in my mouth._

_I ignored my gag reflex._

_One of the other men said, "Steve, get on your knees. I want to have some fun." The man whose penis I was sucking grabbed my shoulders and pushed me down. I was on my hands and knees now. The man in front of me was on his knees. I felt a sudden and terrible pain from behind. One of the men behind me had penetrated my ass._

_I ignored my tears._

_The man behind me was thrusting. The man in front of me was also thrusting. The man in front of me came into my mouth. He grabbed my neck. He rubbed my neck. "Swallow." he said. I did._

_I ignored the vomit that had erupted from me._

"_My turn." said the third man. He put his penis in my mouth. I felt the man behind me shudder as he too came. He pulled out of me._

_I ignored the feeling of hot liquid coming out my ass._

_The man who had originally come in my mouth now entered my ass. The man in front said, "Suck." I did. The man that wasn't currently raping me hit my back with something hard. This made the other two come simultaneously._

_I ignored how gross it felt._

_All three men then started hitting me. The edges of my vision started to turn black. Something incredibly hot pressed onto my butt. I screamed as loud as I could. Someone said, "I told you to SHUT UP!" He punched me in the nose._

_I ignored the blood streaming down my face._

_The blackness got bigger and bigger until that was all I saw._

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The boy in the hospital woke up with a scream. There were tears running down his face.

He tried to ignore what he'd just remembered. He couldn't.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**A/N: Okay, so that was really hard to write, and I'm sure it wasn't easy to read. I originally planned to have him remember the rape inside of a different chapter, but then I decided that it deserved a chapter of it's own. I then debated having it be a memory/dream like it is, or jumping back in time and have it be more like the other chapters. I guess I took a risk with this. I think what swayed me was the idea that it might have more of an impact in first-person. Tell me what you think of my decision IN A REVIEW.**

**I'll stick with the ten reviews deal I had last time: I'll post the next chapter when I get ten reviews, or after a week. Whichever comes first.**


	4. Identified

**4. Identified**

Mercedes walked up to the reception desk and waited for someone. She was trying not to totally lose it.

After she'd read the article, she cried for about forty seconds, then told her parents about Kurt. They got really worried, and asked if she wanted them to go to the hospital with her. She said no, thinking it would be easier to go alone.

As soon as she got in the car with directions, she called Finn.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Mercedes again. Can I talk to Burt?"

"Sure. Did you find out where Kurt is?"

"Yeah. Uh, that's kind of what I want to talk to his dad about."

"You sound weird. Did something bad happen?" Mercedes didn't want to tell Finn about this. She thought Kurt's father should be the first to know.

"Yeah, something bad happened. Now put me on with Burt!"

"Okay, geez." There was silence for a few seconds, then "Mercedes?"

"Hey, Mr. Hummel."

"Finn said you know where Kurt is?"

"Yeah, listen. Um, I was reading the newspaper and…"

"And?"

"Oh, god, Mr. Hummel, I'm so sorry." Mercedes was crying now. She _really _didn't want to be the one to have to tell Mr. Hummel about this.

"What is it? Is he okay?" Mercedes pulled herself together.

"I'm sorry. I-I was reading the newspaper and there was an article about Kurt." She heard Mr. Hummel suck in his breath. "Except, they didn't know it was Kurt. All the article said was there was a kid found in an alley and he had amnesia and didn't know who he was. The picture was of Kurt." Mr. Hummel exhaled.

"Is he okay?" He asked in a shaky voice.

"I don't know."

"Where is he?"

"Lima Central Hospital."

"Alright. I'm on my way." And he hung up.

So now Mercedes was at the hospital reception desk. She was shaking. A nurse walked up to her and asked, "Is there anything you need?"

Mercedes pulled out the newspaper and said, "I know him." The nurse looked at the paper, then at Mercedes.

"How do you know him?"

"He's my best friend." Her eyes started to water. "See?" Mercedes showed the nurse a picture of her and Kurt. Their arms were around each other, and Mercedes was giving him bunny ears.

"What's your name, dear?" The nurse asked after looking at the picture.

"Mercedes Jones." The nurse wrote that down on a clipboard.

"And what's his name?"

"Kurt Hummel." She wrote that down too, muttering the name to herself as if she were trying it out.

"Funny. I imagined he was an Alex. Well, it's finally great to identify him. Put a name to the face."

"So you met him?" The nurse smiled at her.

"Yes, dear. He's such a sweet boy. Would you like to go see him?"

"Yes!" Mercedes _needed_ to see him.

"Alright. Follow me." The nurse lead Mercedes down a hallway, down another hallway, and halfway down a third hallway when she stopped at a door numbered 743.

"Wait here." She said to Mercedes. The nurse went in and closed the door behind her. Mercedes could hear what she said.

"Honey, there's someone here who knows you."

"Really?" _Kurt! It really is him!_

"Yes. Would you like me to send her in?"

"Hell, yes." Mercedes smiled. He was still her Kurt.

The nurse came back out and told her she could go in. Kurt's bed was in the back of the room under a window. When Mercedes saw him, she had to hold back a gasp.

His face was covered in bruises. There was a long scar leading from the outside corner of his eye to his jaw. It looked like someone had cut him. She could see part of his arm, and there were bruises there too, though they didn't look quite as bad as the ones on his face.

He also had a bandage wrapped around his head, but that wasn't surprising. He had amnesia, so he obviously had to have some head trauma.

She wanted to ask what happened, but she thought that would be too much too soon. She would find out eventually.

"Kurt?" She asked.

"Is that my name?" The boy asked. Mercedes walked up so she was next to his bed.

"Yeah."

"Oh." Kurt said. "Kurt. Hmm." Mercedes looked at him worriedly. "I guess I'll get used to it." He finally said. "So, what's your name?"

"I'm Mercedes." This felt so weird to Mercedes. Not only having to reintroduce herself to Kurt, but having to tell Kurt who _he_ was.

"Well, Mercedes, do you want to sit down?" Kurt gestured to the chair next to his bed. Mercedes sat down.

"So," Kurt began, "How do I know you?" This was _really _weird.

"Um, I guess I'm your best friend."

"Really? That's great!" Mercedes smiled.

"Yeah. We go to school together. We were in Glee club together. We go shopping together…" The mention of shopping brought tears to her eyes, but she hid them.

"Glee Club?"

"Yeah. You're a great singer. And a great dancer."

"_Really?_ I didn't know that. That's kind of cool."

"Yeah. It is." Mercedes smiled at him.

"So… what else? I mean, what else should I know about my life?"

"Well," Mercedes started, "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know about my family." Mercedes looked down.

"Okay. Um, your dad, he's on his way here by the way. He went camping or something. Anyway, you dad works in a tire store. His name is Burt Hummel. That's your last name too, Hummel. Um, he's a really nice guy. He loves you a lot." Kurt smiled. "And, that's just about all I know about him."

"And my mother?" Mercedes' face got hot. She really hated the hopeful look in Kurt's eyes when he said that.

"Uh, your mom died when you were eight. You don't really talk about her, so…"

"Oh." Was all Kurt said.

"Yeah." Mercedes mumbled. There was an awkward silence, then Kurt said, "So, do I have any siblings?"

"No, but you might soon." Kurt had a questioning expression on his face.

"Okay, so your dad's dating a woman named Carole. They're kind of serious, she's already moved in, so you think they might be getting married soon. She has a son named Finn. He's in the Glee Club with us."

"Okay. Tell me about Carole and Finn."

"Well, I've never met Carole, but you say nice things about her. You told me that you two go shopping and hang out and stuff. I think you like her."

"Good. And Finn?"

"Well, like I said, Finn's in Glee Club with us. Hmm. He's a nice enough guy. Kind of slow." She laughed, then got embarrassed. "You, uh…"

"I what?"

"Well, you kind of used to have a crush on him." Kurt got an expression on that Mercedes couldn't quite read.

"So I _am _gay." he said. _Oh, god._ Mercedes thought,_ I did__** not **__just tell him he's gay. I'm so stupid, I should have known he might not know. Stupid, stupid, stupid._

"Mercedes?" Kurt asked. Mercedes looked up. She hadn't realized she had put her head in her hands.

"Uh… I'm _really_ sorry Kurt. I didn't mean to…"

"Didn't mean to what?"

"Uh, didn't mean to tell you you're… you know, gay. I mean, it just kind of came out, I wasn't thinking about the fact that you might not know…"

"Why is it bad that you told me?"

"Well, I just… I guess it seems like something you should figure out on your own, right?"

"The first time, yes. But once you figure it out, I don't think there's any harm in someone reminding you." Mercedes managed to laugh at this, despite how awkward she felt. "Besides," Kurt continued, "It's not like I had no idea. There were clues."

"Like what?"

"Well, the obvious. I've found men more attractive than women, not that there's many people to be attracted to that come in here. And the mannerisms that seem to be ingrained in my muscles seem pretty gay. And I saw the clothes I was wearing. They were _really _gay." Mercedes laughed. She was _so _glad that he hadn't changed. She felt a flood of relief. She hadn't lost her best friend, he just lost his memories. They could always make new ones. "And," he said, continuing his train of thought, "Well, I… Um…"

"You what?" Kurt turned red. Mercedes suddenly got worried again. "Kurt?" She prompted.

"We tell each other everything, right? Like, we're BFFs with no secrets?"

"Uh, I guess. Yeah."

"Okay, well my biggest clue that I'm gay was that my… attackers seemed to think I was. Gay." Mercedes had so many questions, but she decided to keep her mouth shut. He didn't need a grand inquisition right now.

"I'm sorry." Was what she chose to say. She took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. He squeezed back.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Mercedes went to her car with a smile on her face. She spent the rest of her time with Kurt laughing and joking, and she told him about school, and the other kids in Glee.

It wasn't as awkward as it was when she first got there, but she could tell that he was in a lot of pain. She didn't even want to imagine how hard it was for him. He was always really good at dealing with tough things _like_ this, but nothing near as bad as this. She didn't know how much of an impact this would have on him. She still didn't really know what happened to him.

After a few hours spent with him, Kurt's dad came in with a crazed look on his face. She left them alone to talk.

As she was leaving, the nurse that she originally talked to (Melinda, she learned was her name) told her that Kurt would eventually regain all of his memories, and the best way to make the process quicker was to treat him like normal. She said that he would have to stay in the hospital for a while. Like, at least a month. Mercedes didn't like that, not one bit. But she would visit him as often as possible, and maybe get him some new Summer clothes for when he got out.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

************************

A/N: Okay, that was happier than the last chapter. Thank GOD.

Now, a lot of you have mentioned I'm a review whore, and that I should tone it down. I'm fully aware of how whoreish I'm being, but I still want reviews, so I'm making a compromise: I still want ten reviews before I update, but if you want, you can just rank the most recent chapter from 1-10. (1 being god awful and a complete waste of your time, 10 being the best fic you've ever read.)

So just gave me a number, no words required. It'll take you, like, five seconds. That's not to say I don't still want wordy reviews. I do, but hopefully this arrangement will make my lovely readers happy.


	5. Family

**5. Family**

Burt Hummel was driving faster than he ever had before. Thank god he didn't get pulled over. He was fuming, thinking up ways to slaughter the whoever did this to his son.

Carole Hudson was sitting in the passenger seat with a blank look on her face. She was in total shock. Tears were falling silently from her eyes. She had never seen Burt so angry.

Finn Hudson was in the back seat, listening to his iPod, trying to get his mind off the fact that Kurt was in the hospital. He really regretted how mean he had been to him, and swore up and down that he would be the best potential step-brother ever. Well, if Kurt survived… No! He would not think about that.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Burt pulled into the hospital parking lot, and was about to find a spot to park when Carole said, "Burt, why don't you pull up to the door so you can get in, then I'll park."

Burt just nodded. He didn't think he could handle talking right now.

He pulled right up to the door, and as he was getting out, Carole squeezed his hand. She always knows how to calm Burt down.

Burt walked up to the reception desk much like Mercedes had earlier, and drummed his fingers on the counter.

"May I help you?" A nurse asked.

"Yeah. I'm here to see my son. Kurt Hummel."

"Hold on a minute sir." He typed 'Kurt Hummel' into the computer, and frowned. "I'm sorry, sir, there doesn't appear to be anyone here by that name. Could you tell me what he's been admitted for?"

"I'm not entirely sure, actually. I got a call from one of his friends saying that he was in the hospital for some reason, and he had amnesia. Well, see, I was camping so I left-"

"Oh!"

"What?"

"You must mean the boy with amnesia that was admitted a couple days ago." Suddenly, another nurse came up and said, "What about the boy with amnesia?"

"Well," the first nurse responded, "This man says he's his father." The new nurse turned to Burt. "What did you say his name was?"

"Kurt Hummel." He said. She looked at the first nurse. "That's what the girl says. And she had the picture, so she was telling the truth."

"What girl? Just let me see my son!" Burt was confused and a little bit angry. What the hell were these people talking about?

The second nurse turned to him, "Of course, sir. Right this way."

She lead him down a series of hallways till she reached room 743.

"He's in there with someone right now, I'll just ask if he's ready for more company. Wait right here." he went in the room and Burt heard her say, "Kurt, dear, your father's here. Would you like me to send him in?"

"Yeah."

Burt felt like fifty pounds were lifted off his shoulders. It was only now that he had heard his sons voice that he really believed he was okay.

He was okay.

"You can come in now." The nurse held the door open for him.

He saw Mercedes sitting next to a bed in the back of the room, leaning over someone. Once he got a little closer he could see Kurt.

He nearly had a heart attack, stopped in his tracks, then he almost fainted.

Kurt looked awful. There were bruises and bandages everywhere, and he had a big scar on his face.

"Kurt." He said under his breath. He really felt like he couldn't breathe. Who would do something so horrible to another living being? To his son? His loving, sweet, joyful, beautiful, selfless, kind, brilliant, talented, trusting, amazing son. He couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it, yet here it was.

It was his fault. If he hadn't left Kurt alone, stayed home with him. Or even made him come, this wouldn't have happened. He was so stupid, leaving alone to fend for himself. Well, what's done is done. All he can

He cleared his throat. "Uh, hey kid. How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess." Burt walked a little closer, and was about to say something else, when Mercedes said to Kurt, "I'll go." Then to Burt, "Bye, Mr. Hummel."

"Thank you so much Mercedes. For staying with him." She smiled at him.

"I didn't do it for you."

"I know."

She left Kurt and Burt alone.

Burt sat where Mercedes had been sitting, and managed to smile at his son.

"Hey, dad." Kurt said timidly.

"Do you remember me?" Burt asked, a little surprised,

"No, I don't remember anyone, but Mercedes told about everyone. Are Finn and… oh, uh, Carole! That's her name. Are they here?"

"Yeah, they're parking the car. Are you, uh, are you gonna remember…?"

"Yeah, the doctors say that I'll regain all my memories eventually. I just need to try to see all the people I normally talk to on a regular basis. I've already started to remember… some things." Burt needed to know.

"What happened?" he asked.

Kurt looked down, took a deep breath, and said, "Saturday night I went to the store… I don't remember why, I would assume to buy things." Kurt laughed without humor. That act nearly killed Burt.

"So, I was putting the bags in my car, and these three guys started saying things to me." Without warning, tears started falling from Kurt's eyes. He brushed them away.

"It's okay." Burt said taking his hand. He wasn't sure he wanted Kurt to keep talking about this. It was clearly extremely painful, and Burt just didn't know if he could handle it.

But Kurt kept talking, and Burt felt that if Kurt wanted to tell him what, he should be here for him.

"They said really mean things… then they grabbed me." Kurt sniffled. "Uh, they grabbed me and carried me to an alley, with a-a bag over my head." Burt closed his eyes. He took Kurt's hand in both of his and willed himself not to start crying. Kurt needed him right now, and after all the times Kurt was strong for him, it was time he returned the favor.

"And?" he prompted.

"And then they… beat me. And left me there, unconscious." Burt took a deep breath. He seemed to be doing that a lot today. He felt like Kurt was leaving something out, and he had a horrible feeling he knew what it was. He had to ask.

"Did they… do anything else?"

Kurt closed his eyes, and the tears started to flow freely. Kurt knew he wouldn't be able to verbally answer that question coherently, so he just nodded.

Burt got the hint. He was right, and it killed him.

All he could do was wrap his arms around his son and let him cry. Kurt flinched away at first, but then he leaned into his father, sobbing in his shoulder.

"Shh. Shh." Burt hummed as he stroked the back of his son's head, "It'll be okay. It'll all be okay."

**X**

"_You don't have to work at anything, Kurt. Your job is to be yourself, and it's my job to love you no matter what, okay? That and the majority ownership at the tire store, that's all we got."_

**X**

"_I really wish your mother was here. She was better at handling this kind of thing. Handling me."_

**X**

"_I've known since you were three. All you wanted for your birthday was a pair of sensible heels."_

**X**

"_I'm your father, Kurt. I'll always love you, no matter what."_

**X**

Kurt continued to cry as all his memories of his father came flooding back to him. He couldn't believe he could have ever forgotten.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

As Carole and Finn walked in the hospital, they saw Mercedes on her way out. "Hey Mercedes." Finn called out. She turned to them.

"Oh, hey guys."

"Where's Kurt's room? Do you know?" Carole asked her.

"Uh, yeah, I was just there. Room 743. But I would wait a few minutes, Burt's with him now, and I think they need some time alone."

"Of course, dear. How's he doing?" She asked tentatively.

"He's putting on a brave face, but he's hurt. He doesn't remember anything." Finn felt like he wanted to barf. He couldn't imagine Kurt having no memory of anything.

"Is he…" Finn started. "Is he gonna be okay?" He dreaded the answer.

"Oh, yeah. The doctors say he'll be fine."

"Thank god." The Hudsons said in unison. Mercedes gave a tentative smile and left.

Finn and Carole waited in the waiting room until they thought enough time had passed. Carole was really worried about Kurt, but she was also worried about Burt. She knew that if something like this happened to Finn, she would be out of her mind. She couldn't begin to comprehend how awful he must be feeling.

Finn was trying not to faint. He felt sick to his stomach, thinking about Kurt, what happened to him, who did it to him. He wanted to kill whoever did it, and he did literally mean kill. Like, he wanted to strangle, or shoot, or stab, or beat, or decapitate the person or people who did this to Kurt. Preferably all of the above.

When they thought that Burt and Kurt had had enough time together, they headed to the room. When they got there, they knocked, and Burt said "Come in."

Carole could tell by the tone of his voice that he had been crying.

They opened the door and walked toward the bed. They saw Burt sitting next to a very disheveled Kurt.

When they saw how bad Kurt looked, Carole started crying, and what was left of the color in Finn's face drained.

Burt got up to offer Carole his seat, and she sat down to try to calm herself down. Kurt looked pretty uncomfortable, and Carole felt bad. After all, to him she was some woman who came into his room and just started crying. She pulled herself together, apologizing for her outburst to Kurt. He smiled and said it was okay, and he looked worse than he really was. To Carole, that sounded a lot like a lie.

Finn was just standing there, looking incredibly ashen. All those bruises and scars… all the times he threw Kurt in the dumpster, all the times he turned a blind eye to his 'friends' beating Kurt up, all the times he stayed quiet when his 'friends' called Kurt names like faggot and queer, when _he _called Kurt faggot just because he didn't like the way Kurt redecorated their room. He regretted it all. Felt horrible for everything.

"What happened, honey?" Finn heard his mom ask. Before Kurt could answer, Burt piped in.

"Carole, he's done enough explaining for today. Let him rest." She nodded.

The little family stood around talking about trivial things for the next twenty-five minutes. Well, Carole, Burt and Kurt did. Finn didn't say much, remaining white as a sheet.

After the twenty-five minutes, a doctor knocked and came in. He said that he needed to run some tests, talk to Kurt, and maybe have a detective come in to ask him some questions. He also needed Burt to sign some papers and other things, so Burt, Carole, and Finn left Kurt for the day after he reassured them he was fine.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**A/N: When I started writing this chapter, I was a little worried my readers might not like me switching to Burt, Carole, and Finn when I had stayed with Mercedes and Kurt. I was about half-way through this chapter when I posted the last one, and was relieved by the reviews. About half of you mentioned wanting to see Finn and Burt's reaction. Well, I'm not one to disappoint. I hope you like my take on their characters. Hey, why don't you tell me what you thought in a review? That sounds like an excellent idea to me. Since you all FAILED to post ten reviews, even with the new 1-10 policy, I'll cut the number to five reviews (or a week). Maybe you can handle that.**


	6. Describing

**6. Describing**

After his family left, the doctor ran some tests on Kurt. He checked his eyes, checked his short-term memory, his bruises, and did a variety of other things.

When he was done he sat down and asked Kurt if he'd remembered anything else since last night. (After the dream, Kurt woke up screaming. The nurse ran in, and he told her that he'd remembered the attack.)

"I remembered my dad." The doctor looked pleased.

"That's great! What about your mother and brother?"

"Oh, they're not my mom and brother. Uh, my mom died, and the woman was my dad's girlfriend. Carole. The boy was her son, Finn."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you remember that?"

"No, Mercedes told me."

"And who's Mercedes?"

"My best friend, apparently."

"She's that young lady who was in here earlier?"

"Yeah."

"So, you don't remember Carole or Finn?"

"No. Not yet."

"Do you know how often you see them?"

"Well, they moved in a couple months ago."

"Oh, so they're kind of family."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well, them you should try to see them as often as possible. Do you have any other family you see a lot?"

"I don't think so."

"Alright, you're doing great. So, I wanted to have a police officer come in to talk to you about what you remember of the attack. Is that okay?"

"Uh, sure. I guess."

"Alright. Also, maybe tomorrow, I'm gonna set you up with one of the hospital's psychiatrists. You'll see her regularly to talk."

"Okay."

"Alright, so I'll go call the detective."

"Okay."

After the doctor left, Kurt took a deep breath. So now he remembered his father, but he still didn't remember anyone else. Mercedes was really nice, he wished he would remember her. And he could tell Carole really cared about him, he felt bad not knowing her. Finn… Finn didn't say much. In fact, Kurt couldn't remember him saying one thing. He must just be quiet, he thought.

He was glad he remembered his dad, though. At least he has someone. And his dad was happy he remembered him too. It was great when his dad smiled at the news. As long as he had his dad, Kurt thought, he would make it through this.

After about fifteen minutes of Kurt lying alone, someone knocked on his door.

"Come in!" He called.

A woman walked in and showed Kurt her badge.

"Hello, I'm detective Molise with the Lima police department." She said.

"Sit down." Kurt offered. She thanked him and took the seat.

"So, Kurt, I'm sure you know why I'm here."

"Yeah."

"Okay, so can you tell me what you were doing on Saturday night?"

"I was at the grocery store."

"Okay, what happened at the grocery store?"

"Well, nothing happened _at _the grocery store. But when I was putting my groceries in my car… um, these men came up to me."

"How many men?" Kurt coughed.

"Three."

"And what did they do?" Kurt began to wonder why she made him talk about this part. It wasn't like she didn't know. He would understand if she asked him what they looked like, or what they said, but why was she making him say it? It was like she wanted to make him uncomfortable.

"I know this is hard, but please answer the question." Kurt realized he'd been quiet for about twenty seconds.

"Oh, uh, they, um…" He took a deep breath, "They raped and beat me." He said as calmly as he could. The woman nodded.

"I'm gonna need more details than that. What's the very first thing they did?" So she was gonna make him tell her exactly what happened. Kurt wasn't sure he could handle that, but he was going to try.

"The first thing was… one of the men said 'Hey, fag!'." The police woman wrote something down in her notebook.

"What did he look like?"

"Uh, it was kind of dark, but he was tallish-"

"How tall?" Jeez. She was pushy. You would think she would be a little nicer.

"Uh, like six-one, six-two? Something like that. He was big, kind of a mix of fat and muscle."

She wrote in her notebook again.

"What color was his hair?"

"Like I said, it was dark outside. I couldn't see."

"How about his skin color?"

"Uh, I'm not entirely sure… I guess he was dark. He could have been anything but white. Or just tan."

She scribbled some more.

"Any distinguishing marks?"

"No, not that I saw."

"You're sure? No tattoos or piercings or scars?"

"No. I already told you." Kurt was getting annoyed with this woman, and apparently, it showed in his tone of voice.

"No need to get testy. I'm only trying to find out who did this to you."

"And you have to be so pushy?"

"These questions are procedure." She said this without a hint of emotion in her voice, she didn't seem to care about what happened to Kurt. She just seemed robotic. Kurt was getting steadily more and more annoyed by this as the interview went on. He was also getting upset by the questions, a lot of them bringing up things he would prefer not to touch.

The rest of the interview was the same as the start: way too many questions for Kurt's comfort. He got teary a couple of times, and all the detective did was silently hand him a box of tissues. Kurt did not like this woman.

After what seemed like forever, she finally left. Kurt sighed in relief.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

That night, Kurt had more dreams. Well, the same dream really. It was just as horrible as last night. Once again, he woke up with a scream, tears running down his face. A nurse he didn't recognize came running in, and Kurt told her he was fine. Just a nightmare.

She looked at him with pity in her eyes, saying that if he needed anything, to press the call button.

And she left.

And Kurt cried till the sun rose.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

That morning, Melinda (his nurse) came in and told him that in an hour-and-a-half the hospital psychiatrist, Dr. Greene, would be paying him a visit. They chatted for a while, and if she knew about his dream last night, she was kind enough not to mention it. Kurt was silently grateful for that.

Unlike the detective yesterday, Kurt really liked Melinda. She was sweet to him, never tried to talk about 'the attack' as everyone seemed to call it, and, above, all made Kurt laugh. He knew she would be an invaluable friend while he was in the hospital.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Good mourning Kurt, I'm doctor Greene." Dr. Greene was not at all what Kurt expected. The first thing that came to Kurt's mind when he walked in the room was Santa Claus.

Dr. Greene was a large man, with a white beard, a red face, and a huge smile.

"Hello…" Kurt said.

"My, my, why don't we open these windows? You must be burning up!" Dr. Greene proceeded to open all the windows in the room.

"Ah, that feels much better!" he exclaimed. Kurt had to admit that the breeze felt good.

"So!" The doctor said as he flopped in the chair next to Kurt's bed. "How are we feeling today?" Kurt felt as though he'd been thrown into an alternate universe. This was too weird. Yet… for some inexplicable reason, Kurt felt comfortable. He felt very at home with this man. How odd…

"Uh, fine." Kurt said in response to his question.

"Bullshit." Kurt blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"You were just raped, for god's sake! You cannot possibly be 'fine'. If you are, then I don't need to be here. It's my job to make you 'fine', which no one ever is by the way, and if you already are fine then I'll just leave. So, let's try again: How are you feeling?" Kurt was struck dumb. He stared at the man in front him, hardly believing his ears. This was the first time anyone had just been straight with him about all of this. The first time anyone hadn't treated him like he couldn't handle it.

He absolutely loved this man.

"Um, I guess I'm tired mostly. It's been a long couple of days."

"I can imagine. Has anything stuck out as particularly stressful?"

"Talking to the detective. That was horrible."

"It often is for assault victims. Was there anything that made it extra-special-awful?" Kurt added the phrase 'extra-special-awful' to his vocabulary and swore to use it as often as possible.

"Well, the detective was pretty callous. It made talking about it harder."

"That's rough. Anything else make your past few days tiring?"

"Well, I've been having nightmares. About the rape." Dr. Greene nodded.

"Also common. And to be expected. Have you been having any trouble getting to sleep?"

"Well, I can fell asleep fine the first time, but after the dream, I wake up, and then I can't fall back to sleep."

"I see. I'll tell you what, I'll talk to your doctor and see about getting you a light sleep-aid. How's that sound?"

"Good. Thanks, Dr. Greene."

"Call me Steve."

"Alright."

"So, Kurt, is there anything else you'd like to talk about?" Kurt thought about it for a minute.

"Nope." He said honestly, "Not right now."

"Okay. Well, it was nice to meet you Kurt, and I'll talk to you again soon."

"Okay, bye."

And Steve left, leaving Kurt wondering what planet he'd been beamed down from, and whether or not he could vacation there.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**A/N: So there's chapter six. I rather like this chapter, especially Dr. Greene. He was so fun to write. You can count on him making repeat appearances. I want to know what you thought of him. So in your REVIEW, tell me if he was a riot, or extra-special-awful.**

**Once again, ten reviews or a week.**


	7. Meeting

**7. Meeting**

"Finn! Finn!" Mercedes was waving her arms in an attempt to get Finn's attention.

"Oh, hey Mercedes." Finn said as he walked over to her. "Wazzup?"

"We have to get the Glee club together." Finn looked at her, puzzled.

"Why?"

"Oh, you can _not_ be that dense. For Kurt."

"…Why?" Mercedes wanted to slap him, but decided that wouldn't really help things.

"Okay, listen. The doctor said that to help Kurt recover, he needs to see the people he sees on a regular basis. Kurt sees the Glee club on a regular basis, or at least he used to. Therefore, we need to get the Glee club to go visit Kurt. Got it?"

"Uh, I don't know…"

"And why not?" Finn looked down.

"Well, it just seems like, if I were Kurt, I wouldn't want a bunch of people coming to see me. It might be awkward." Mercedes stared at him.

"What? If it helps jog his memory, then we should totally do it. He doesn't remember _anyone_ right now, and if_ I _were him, I'd want to know some people."

"He remembers his dad."

"Wait, what?"

"Uh, after you left, while Kurt was alone with Burt, he remembered him."

"Oh. Well, that's great, but he still needs more than one person in his life."

"I guess you're right. So, how are we gonna get the group together."

"We need to start by talking to Mr. Schue."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Will Schuester heard a knock on his door between first and second period. "Come in!" he called.

In walked two of his former Glee clubbers, Mercedes Jones and Finn Hudson.

"Oh, hey guys." he said, "Have a seat."

They sat down, and Mr. Schue asked, "What's going on?"

"We need to call an emergency meeting of the New Directions." Mercedes responded.

"Why?" He asked.

"Do you read the paper, Mr. Schue?" Mercedes asked for apparent reason to Mr. Schuester.

"Uh, sometimes. Why?"

"Because if you did, you would have found out that Kurt is in the hospital with a case of amnesia." Mr. Schuester's eyes popped out of his head. He leaned forward over his desk.

"Oh my god. What happened?" Finn answered that question.

"On Saturday night, he got jumped. They found him Sunday morning, and he woke up on Monday without any memories. They ran the story in Tuesday's paper, and that's how Mercedes found out about it. That's why she wasn't here yesterday. She called Burt, and we came home to see him. It's pretty bad. He only remembers Burt…. and the attack." he added as an afterthought.

Mr. Schuester sat back in his seat, stunned.

"Well," he finally said, "That's horrible, but I don't see what the Glee club has to do with this."

"Okay," Mercedes started, "So, the doctors said that for Kurt to get, like, cured of amnesia, he has to see people that he sees on a regular basis. So, I thought that since we all became such good friends from Glee, it might help if we went and visited him." Mr. Schuester thought about it for a minute.

"That's all fine and good, but I can't organize a field trip without proper notice or approval from the school."

"Well," Mercedes said, "What if everyone just happened to meet at the hospital after school?"

"That works. I'll tell as many people as I can that there's an emergency New Directions meet after school, but you two have to help get the word out, okay?"

"Can do, Mr. Schue." Finn responded.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"I'm glad you all could make it. I'm sure you're wondering why we're here, so without further ado, Mercedes and Finn will explain everything."

Mercedes and Finn walked up front and faced everyone. Mercedes was the first to speak.

"So, I'm really glad everyone could make it-"

"Kurt's not here." Rachel interrupted. Mercedes glared at her.

"I'm well aware of that. We actually called this meeting to talk about Kurt-"

"My mom said it's not nice to talk about people when they're not there." Brittany stated.

"As I was saying," Mercedes continued, "We're here to talk about Kurt. As you may have noticed, he hasn't been to school this week, and if you read the paper on Tuesday, you'd know why. I'm assuming none of you read the paper." No one said anything. "Right, so long story short, Kurt's in the hospital." Almost everyone in the room sucked in their breath. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. _Kurt in the hospital? How? Why? When? _Mercedes proceeded to answer all the unspoken questions.

"On Saturday, he was attacked. I'm not sure of the details-"

"It was three men." Finn said, speaking for the first time. "They raped and beat him, then left him for dead." The room went silent, albeit the soft sound of Rachel starting to cry.

Mercedes didn't know he was _raped_. Jesus Christ. And why would Finn decide to share that with the whole Glee club? It seemed kind of private to her. Like, Kurt should get to choose who knows about it, not Finn. What the hell was he thinking?

After an unbearable thirty seconds in which the only thing that happened was Artie giving Rachel a tissue, Mercedes coughed and continued to speak.

"Um, so… it happened on Saturday night, and someone found him on Sunday. I guess he didn't wake up till Monday. He, uh, he has amnesia. He doesn't remember anyone, even himself."

Puck put his elbow on his knee and his mouth in his hand.

Tina put her head on Rachel's shoulder, and Rachel rested her head on Tina's.

Mike closed his eyes and started slowly shaking his head.

Quinn muttered 'holy fucking God'.

Artie ran his hand through his hair.

Brittany and Santana grabbed each others' hands.

Matt balled his hands in to fists.

Finn and Mercedes just stood there till they thought everyone had calmed down enough to listen. Mercedes managed to keep going, sensing Finn's reluctance to speak.

"Well, I forgot to mention that he _does_ remember his dad. But, and this is the reason you all are here, he only remembered his dad after his dad came to visit him. See, the doctors said that the best way for him to regain he memories quickly is for him to see all the people he's close to. I thought it would be a good idea for all of us to come and see him. I also think it would be best for us all to come together."

"Why?" Mike asked.

"Because he probably thinks of us as a group. Like, if he saw only one of us, it probably wouldn't jog his memory, but if he saw us all together, he might remember Glee, and therefore, us." Rachel jumped up wiping her eyes.

"Alright!" She shouted, _way_ too peppy, "We need to arrange a time for us all to meet. I thought we cou-"

"Shut up." Finn interrupted, "Me and Mercedes already have a plan. We're meeting at the Lima Central hospital at four O' clock today. Attendance is mandatory." Rachel promptly sat down. She and Finn were having a bit of a lovers' quarrel, but now's not the time to get into to that, because this chapter is over.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**A/N: So there you have it. Do you love it, or want a refund? The only way to tell me is in a review, and I'm dying to know. Same deal.**


	8. Exercises

**8. Exercises**

After Steve (Dr. Greene) left, Kurt actually felt a little better, despite the speed at which their conversation had ended. He sighed contentedly. This day was looking up. He turned on the TV and started surfing the channels.

After a few minutes of aimless searching, he found something that looked somewhat interesting. Familiar, even. _America's Next Top Model. _It was, apparently the season finale. The two models left competing were Raina Hein and Krista White. To Kurt it was obvious that Krista was better. She simply had more grace than Raina.

He had been watching the show for about thirty minutes (he was really getting into it. He decided that he must really love the show) when it happened. It was right after Raina had a particularly bad shoot.

**X**_"God, she is _awful_!" Mercedes commented. "I mean, come on! _I _could pose better than that! And I'm no model." I snuggled closer to her warm body and nodded in agreement. _

_We were cuddled on the couch in my room watching on my big screen. It took me a few seconds after she made her observation for my head to shoot up._

"_What?" I asked, alarmed. Mercedes looked down at me with a confused look on her face._

"_What what?" she asked._

"_What did you just say?" Mercedes eyebrows knitted together._

"_Uh, that Raina is an awful model?"_

"_After that." Mercedes looked even more confused._

"_Um, that I could do better than her?"_

"_After that." I wanted to make sure I had heard her correctly._

"_I… I have no idea what I said after that, Kurt. What are you getting so worked up over?" She looked at me with no comprehension of what I was talking about._

"_Did you or did you not just say that 'you're no model'?" She thought for a second._

"_I guess. Why?" I paused the TV, sat up straighter and grabbed her shoulders._

_I was having a flashback within a flashback: Mercedes being told she has to lose ten pounds in a week. Mercedes with baked chicken and vegetables on her tray. Me with peeled celery. Me getting angry at her for eating too much. Mercedes putting the tray back. Mercedes not eating anything for the next few days. Mercedes passing out in the cafeteria. Mercedes singing _Beautiful_ in front of a huge crowd. Me swearing to myself that I will never treat Mercedes like that again._

_**End flashback within flashback**_

_And I'll be damned if I let her treat herself like that. _

"_What makes you think that?"_

"_Oh, Kurt, come on."_

"_Mercedes, you're much more beautiful than any of those girls. You'd whoop their collective asses." She smiled at me._

"_Kurt, to _you_ I'm more beauti-"_

"_And I'm right." She gave me her 'look'. I shut up._

"_Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. All I'm saying is that, to those people,-" she gestured to the judges frozen on the screen, "I'm not 'model material'." She made the little air quotes around model material. "And I'm okay with that. I thought I already made it clear that I'm okay with my body, and I also accept that a lot of people aren't. You don't need to worry about it." Finally, it made sense to me. How she could say things like that, because it wasn't too different from me being gay. _I _was okay with who I was, but that didn't mean everyone else was. Mercedes was just being honest when she said she 'was no model'. And sometimes you have to say the truth out loud, even when the truth hurts. Especially when the truth hurts._

_I pulled her into a hug. She squeezed me back._

"_I'm so sorry I tried to get you to change, Mercedes. You have no idea how much." I muttered in her back. _

_She pulled away with a smile on her face. "You know Kurt? You are one sappy ass white boy."_

"_I love you too."_

**X**

Kurt smiled as he recalled that conversation. And the events leading up to it. He was a concerned by how mean he had been to Mercedes, but it seemed as though he had made amends.

When he finished watching _ANTM_ (Krista won!) it was 1:00 and he was all TVed out. He sat there with nothing to do. He wished he had someone to hang out with. His dad had said that he would bring him his laptop, cell phone, clothes, and some books when he got off work today. When did he say that was? Was it 1:30 or 2:30? Kurt hoped for the former.

After five minutes of counting the flowers on the wallpaper that bordered the room (they were truly horrendous), Kurt decided to try the short-term memory exercises he was supposed to do every day.

The exercises consisted of flash cards. Half of them had words (e.g. Dog, House, Truck) and half of them had pictures (e.g. A dog, A house, A truck). There were two exercises he was supposed to do with them. One he did by himself, the other he did with someone else.

The one he did by himself sounded easy. He shuffled all the cards together and flipped the top one over. (A picture of a baseball glove.) He looked at it for five seconds, then flipped it face down. Then he waited thirty seconds and wrote down what it was. (A picture of a baseball bat.) Then he turned it over.

"Crap." _Glove. _Baseball _glove._ This was harder than it sounded.

So he tried again. This time, he got it right. (It was the word fish.) So he moved on to two cards. He also got both of those right. (The word glasses and the word dog.)

When he tried three, though, he had a complete brain fart. He couldn't do three no matter how many times he tried, so he decided to try and master two. (He went 7/4 in case you were wondering.)

After he was thoroughly bored he turned the TV on again. Still nothing. It was only 1:34. He pressed the call button. Melinda came in and asked him what was up. He told her he was ready for lunch. She left saying she'd be back soon.

Kurt wasn't really hungry, but food would give him something to do.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Kurt was studying his nails when his dad came in. 2:30 sharp.

"Hey kid." Burt Hummel said in greeting. "I brought you your stuff." He put a duffel bag full of cloths next to his son's bed. He put his laptop case, cell phone, and a stack of books on his bedside table. Then he sat in the seat next to the bed.

"How ya feeling?" he asked.

"Better." Kurt responded truthfully.

"Well that's good to hear. How'd the talk with the police go?"

"Alright." Kurt didn't want to worry his dad with his little troubles. He shouldn't have to deal with that.

Burt nodded. "Did they say anything about how long it would be till the bastards are caught?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Burt nodded again.

"Ah, well. Don't worry 'bout it. If they don't fine 'em, I will." Kurt managed a meek laugh at this.

They spent the next twenty minutes having Burt tell Kurt how things at home and the shop have been going. He didn't want Kurt feeling left out.

After he'd exhausted all his stories, he asked Kurt how his memory'd been going. Kurt told him about how he'd remembered Mercedes, and his father was thrilled. He also to him about his epic flash card failure, and his dad asked him if he could help. Kurt told him that there was a two-person way to do it (the memory game. If you've never played it as a kid, you should have), and it'd be nice if he would do it with him. His dad happily agreed, glad to be able to help in some way.

They spent the next hour playing and talking, and just having a good time. After an hour, they heard a knock on the door. It was Mercedes.

"Come in!" Kurt called.

She opened the door.

"Oh!" she exclaimed when she saw Burt. "I didn't know you had company. I'm sorry…" she was turning to leave when Burt said, "Oh, no, that's alright. You stay, I'll go. If that's alright with Kurt."

"Sure."

Burt hugged his son goodbye and left. He wasn't as surprised as he thought he should be when he saw eleven other kids and Mr. Schuester in the hallway.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**A/N: There you are. So, yeah. Glee club's reaction next chapter. How'd you like this one? Much to your chagrin, same deal.**


	9. AN

**A/N: I know you're going to hate me for this, and I'm truly sorry. This fic is being put on an indefinite hiatus. Things are going on in my life, and I'm sure you don't care about the details. I **_**might**_** continue it at some point, but don't hold your breath. **


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